<a></a><a>Quantitative comparison of atomistic
simulations with experiment for glass-forming materials is made difficult by
the vast mismatch between computationally and experimentally accessible timescales.
Recently, we presented results for an epoxy network showing that the
computation of specific volume vs. temperature as a function of cooling rate in
conjunction with the time–temperature superposition principle (TTSP) enables
direct quantitative comparison of simulation with experiment. Here, we
follow-up and present results for the translational dynamics of the same
material over a temperature range from the rubbery to the glassy state. Using
TTSP, we obtain results for translational dynamics out to 10<sup>9</sup> s in
TTSP reduced time – a macroscopic timescale. Further, we show that the mean
squared displacement (MSD) trends of the network atoms can be collapsed onto a
master curve at a reference temperature. The computational master curve is
compared with the experimental master curve of the creep compliance for the
same network using literature data. We find that the temporal features of the
two data sets can be quantitatively compared providing an integrated view
relating molecular level dynamics to the macroscopic thermophysical
measurement. The time-shift factors needed for the superposition also show
excellent agreement with experiment further establishing the veracity of the
approach</a>.
Lifetime Prediction of Nano-Silica based Glass Fibre/Epoxy composite by Time Temperature Superposition Principle
